Refund and Withdrawal Policy

Refunding Dropped Courses

Tuition and required fees will be reduced in the case of withdrawal from Northwest as follows:

Refund/Reduction

Full Trimester Courses

Block Courses

Single Summer Session Courses

100%

1st Week

3 Days

1 Day

75%

2nd Week

2 Days

1 Day

50%

3rd Week

3 Days

1 Day

25%

4th Week

2 Days

1 Day

Other time frames prorated accordingly.

Room and Board

Room charges are reduced following the same schedule as tuition above.

All access meal plans will be reduced on a weekly sliding scale based on the date of the withdrawal, a $200 cancellation fee will apply.

*See 'Important Dates' link for trimester details.

Return of Title IV Federal Student Aid

This requirement applies to you ONLY if:

You received federal student aid, and

You are withdrawing prior to completing 60% of the period for which the aid was provided.

The new federal law required federal aid recipients to "earn" most of the aid they receive by staying enrolled in college at least half time. Students who withdraw prior to completing 60% of the semester/ quarter for which they received federal student aid may be required to return some of the aid they were awarded.

The new law assumes that you used your Title IV student aid (e.g., Stafford or Perkins Loans) to pay your institutional charges -- tuition, fees, dorm room and board and certain other institutional charges -- whether you did or not. Thus, if you withdraw prior to completing 60% of the semester/ quarter/trimester for which you were awarded aid, a pro rata portion of your aid must be returned to the federal government.

First, the University will restore to the appropriate federal fund source a proportional share of institutional charges that you have paid. Second, if the amount returned by the University is not enough to repay the entire amount that you haven't "earned" by the length of your enrollment, you will be required to return portions of amounts that you received to pay for non-institutional charges -- books, supplies, off-campus living expenses.

Amounts that must be returned to federal aid sources, whether by the university or by you, will first be applied to your federal loans. With respect to any amount you owe after the university has paid back its share, you will be permitted to repay the loans based on the original terms of the loans - usually a ten-year repayment term after a grace period and deferments if you return to school. In addition, you may be required to restore portions of grants such as Pell and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOGs) that you have received. In the case of "unearned" portions of federally funded grants or scholarships, you will be expected to pay 50% of the "unearned" portion immediately or to make satisfactory arrangements to repay that amount.

If you are entitled to a refund from the University of amounts you paid to cover institutional charges, any refund due you will first be applied to your obligation to return "unearned" aid before you receive money back. Thus, portions of institutional refunds may be applied on your behalf to your outstanding Stafford or Perkins Loans or to the federal portions of your grants or scholarship and not actually refunded directly to you.

This policy is based on 34 CFR, Section 668.22 of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.